Abstract

This is a prelude to, and an extension of the original paper Artificial tissue models (Stark, R., 1994. The topology and analysis of asynchronous processes. http://www.math.usf.edu/∼stark/documents). However, this exposition is designed for a broader audience — anyone working in biological information processing. A primary objective is to demonstrate that irregular asynchronous automata nets, as opposed to cellular automata, are a realistic approach to modeling biological information processing. Also, new material is presented. Sections 1 and 2 review the early history of von Neumann’s attempt explore biological information processing and finally the emergence of cellular automata. The history is guided by the question of why John von Neumann knowingly (we believe) compromised his investigation of biological information processing by falling back to the model we now know as cellular automata. Section 3 defines and explores examples of cellular automata and artificial tissue. Sections 4 and 5 contain philosophical observations which unify our paper, and propose an answer to the original question. A new model for Turing’s leopards’ spot problem is presented. The asynchronous models are defined by a cell program and a local commumications protocol only. Computational freedom comes from asynchronous activity, while global organization emerges from the entropy reducing nature of the cell programs.

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